Rain Expected to Leave Area By Monday, But High Winds & Flooding Still A Concern

Many residents and emergency officials in North Carolina are cleaning up after several inches of rain pounded the state over the past few days. But emergency officials say portions of North Carolina remain vulnerable to severe flooding.

But it could have been much worse.

Mike Sporer is a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Blacksburg, Va. He says the area is lucky the bulk of the rains didn't stall over the mountains and foothills.

“And had that occurred it would have been an absolute disaster – it would have been orders of magnitudes worse than anything we have seen throughout this event," he says. "We didn't just dodge a bullet here, we dodged a nuclear bomb.”

Between three and six inches of rain fell across the southern mountains Saturday. Today, the southeastern part of the state could see between one and five inches of rain with similar amounts again tomorrow.

Gov. Pat McCrory's office says twelve North Carolina counties have declared a state of emergency in addition to the statewide declaration he made Thursday. About 10,000 people remain without power across the state. "We've also integrated FEMA into our state emergency response team to expedite federal resources as needed," says McCrory.

He adds, “Our agriculture community is likely to be the hardest hit by these heavy rains and flooding. We are continuing to work closely with state agriculture officials and vow to do everything we can to address the needs of the farming community,"

Scott Sharp is a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Raleigh. He says at this point there's less concern about flooding in the Piedmont region, but with strong winds in the forecast through Monday morning and grounds that are already saturated, there could be potential for falling trees and power outages throughout the area.

He says most of the state is under a wind advisory until Monday morning. Much of southeastern North Carolina remains under a flood watch as rains were expected to move in from South Carolina late Sunday and early Monday.  

Over a 72 hour period starting on Thursday, the Triad region alone saw anywhere from 2.5 to 4 inches of rain.  "That's one month's rainfall in three days," says Sharp.

However, there's some good news around the corner for the workweek. A tranquil weather pattern will take over late in the day Monday creating a drier forecast in the Piedmont area. Sharp says daytime highs beginning on Tuesday are expected to be in the 70s.

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